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According to Three Killer and Terrapin Head, Atohvna was celebrated at the first of autumn. Traditionally, it shared some features and practices with the Green Corn Dance.12 For instance, as with the Green Corn, the feast lasted four days, and the Ukv,13 his attendant and the seven counselors from the tribes fasted for seven days prior to the ceremony. The attendant, whom Butrick called the “right hand man,” also selected various members of the tribe from each of the clans to assist with different parts of the ceremony. Those selected also fasted prior to the feast. Into this account, Butrick interjected that articles of purification and healing were collected, which the Cherokees called “nv-wo-ti, which we translate medicine” (Anderson, Brown and Rogers 2010, 222). According to the account given by Thomas Smith, the right hand man also appointed “one to wait on the Yo-wa-ti-ka-no-gi-sti, i.e. the singer of the Yowa” (Anderson, Brown and Rogers 2010, 283). The yowatikanogisti was the only person permitted to sing the yowa, and if the previous one should die during the year, Butrick

observed “the seven prime counselors created on this occasion a substitute, who retained the office for life” (Anderson, Brown and Rogers 2010, 46).

On the sixth day of fasting, the nvwoti and meat procured by the appointed hunters were brought to the council house and stored in the nearby treasure house. Afterwards, everyone gathered, and “the women danced, while four musicians, each in his turn, sang for them” (Anderson, Brown and Rogers 2010, 283), before all went to sleep. A little after sunrise

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One account attributed to Terrapin Head and Nutsawi related that in September (roughly the same time as

Atohvna) there was a hunter’s feast. The description of this feast is also similar to that of the Green Corn, and it involved going to water and the application of the physic to the body. It seems possible that this was part of the larger Atohvna ceremony, and the three feasts may all have connections to the myth of Selu and Kanati.

13 _{The Ukv who presided over this feast was also referred to as Unawisanvhi and Ulistuli, which Butrick translated}

respectively as “one who renews heart and body, or clenses from mental and bodily defilements” and “one who has his head covered, because he officiated with his cap or bonnet on” (Anderson, Brown and Rogers 2010, 280).

on the morning of the seventh day—the first day of the feast—those appointed by the right hand man attended to their duties, while others rekindled the ceremonial fire upon the alter.14 At the same time, the one appointed to assist the yowatikanogisti “went to the holy place, took his *the singer’s+ white dress & put it on him, and put a rattling goard *sic], white washed in his hand, and then took his seat” (Anderson, Brown and Rogers 2010, 285).

Once properly adorned, the yowatikanogisti could begin the ceremony. After receiving the gourd, he stood silent for a moment in the middle of the council house. Then with the shake of his gourd, he began to sing “’You,’ as he walked round the fire and to the door, where he changed his note to ‘i’ (e long) and ascended the roof, not drawing his breath till he arrived at the top of the house” (Anderson, Brown and Rogers 2010, 286). Once on the roof the singer began to sing the yowa hymn, which consisted of seven verses. Each verse had a unique tune, and they were each repeated four times. Between each verse, the singer again sang “i,” before starting the next. Butrick recorded the verses:

1. Hi-yo-wa-ya-ka-ni 2. Hi-te-hu-yu ya-ka-ni 3. Hi-wa-ta-ki-ya-ka-ni 4. Hi-hi-wa-sa-si-ya-ka-ni 5. Hi-a-ni-tsu-si-ya-ka-ni 6. Hi-yo-wa-hi-ye-yo ya-ka-ni

7. Hi-a-ni-he-ho ya-ka-ni (Anderson, Brown and Rogers 2010, 286)

After singing the song, the singer again hit the “I” note and descended from the roof without drawing a breath. He re-entered the council house and again walked around the fire, returning to his original place. There, he announced “I am heard,” and those present responded with a whoop. The attendant then removed the adornments and returned them to their proper place. Butrick observed that the yowa was sung in the morning, around noon and in the evening on

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the first and fourth days of the ceremony, but it was not sung on the second or third (Anderson, Brown and Rogers 2010). The announcement by the yowatikanogisti of “I am heard” seems to have been an acknowledgment that the yowa hymn had been received by the Great Spirit, and that the singing of the yowa had achieved the desired effect.

After the yowa was sung for the first time, the Ukv began preparing the physic. He then directed everyone to go to water, which was practiced as it is described above. Around noon, everyone congregated again in the council house, the yowa was performed in the manner described, and the Ukv offered a sacrifice in the same manner as in the Green Corn. After the sacrifice, the physic was distributed in whitewashed gourds to each person. Each person drank the physic and also rubbed it on their chest. After the physic was consumed, infants were permitted to eat something, but everyone else continued to fast until evening. The yowa was performed once more in the evening, and following that, the Ukv offered a prayer, and everyone partook in the feast, except the Ukv, his attendant, the yowatikanogisti and those appointed to assist in the ceremony. According to most accounts, the people danced until midnight on the nights of the feast, although Butrick observed that some accounts claimed that the women danced all through the night. On the fifth morning since the start of the feast, another sacrifice was offered, and everyone returned home (Anderson, Brown and Rogers 2010).

In his account, Nutsawi acknowledged that the Atohvna ceremony would also be observed “at any time of the year when any mortal disease was feared. But when it was observed as a mere preventative of sickness, there was in some respects a little variation” (Anderson, Brown and Rogers 2010, 290). Nutsawi also noted that such diseases were the

result of “the displeasure of God” (Anderson, Brown and Rogers 2010, 290). Missionaries, like Butrick, and converted Cherokees like Nutsawi, who had been taught the Christian doctrine concerning sin, would likely attribute God’s displeasure to sinful, impure behavior. Yet, there is no indication that Cherokee impurity provoked such displeasure. McLoughlin has observed the Cherokees believed “harmony was the highest ideal, for it was necessary in all spheres of life” (McLoughlin 1994, 15), and given this ideal of harmony, it is possible that the Cherokee would have recognized disharmony as the leading cause of God’s displeasure. If so, the performance of Atohvna and the singing of the yowa may have signified a rebalancing of harmony for the Cherokee people.

While the actual purpose behind the Atohvna remains open to debate, the yowa hymn and its performance represent a fascinating component of Cherokee ritual practice. The similarities between the Atohvna and the Green Corn Dance suggest that the ritual is a traditional one; however, the accounts collected by Butrick that describe the origins of the ceremony suggest Christian influences. Butrick recorded two major descriptions of the ceremony, though they are identical in many parts—including the description of the yowa. Concerning the hymn, Butrick’s informants asserted:

This hymn was made by God, Himself, who gave it the name, Yo-wa, for Yi-ho- wa, and commanded when and how it should be sung. Yi-ho-wa was the most sacred Name of God, which no one must speak except on certain occasions, and then only such as were appointed for the purpose.

So also the hymn called Yo-wa, must never be sung only by persons selected for the purpose, and on particular occasions. (Anderson, Brown and Rogers 2010, 224)

Though Butrick did not clearly cite from whom he received this account, it likely came from Corn Tassel, or reiterated in another section “Yi-ho-wa was the most sacred name of God”

(Anderson, Brown and Rogers 2010, 205). Another account given by Nutsawi and Pine Log related:

Ye-howa was a great King. He was a man and yet was a Spirit. The song or hymn called yowa was sung to him. His name must never be mentioned only by persons selected, & by them, only on the Sabbath day. (Anderson, Brown and Rogers 2010, 208)

This account gives a slightly different picture of the Cherokee understanding of God, who was understood to be both a man and a spirit. Such a view could be attributed to the Christian teaching that Christ was both human and God, but it also fits in with the Cherokee

understanding of the original people, who were considered both human and spirit. In either case, accounts such as these that use the name Yihowa for the Great Spirit have contributed to a long discourse on Cherokee (and Native American) origins.

Butrick and Payne both ascribed to the theory that the Cherokee were one of the lost tribes of Israel, and they recognized such accounts of this ceremony that used the name Yihowa for God as evidence supporting that theory. James Adair had first recorded the use of a similar word, “Yohewa,” among the Cherokees in his History of the American Indians (1974). Like Adair, Butrick and Payne equated the name in Cherokee with the Jewish name Yahweh, which many Christians have transliterated as Jehovah. It remains unclear whether either Yohewa or Yihowa originated in Cherokee (or any other Native American) language or if it was picked up from the European settlers in the early years of contact (Anderson, Brown and Rogers 2010).

Those Cherokee who were sympathetic to Christian conversion and missionization, such as Chief John Ross, often affirmed the connection between Yihowa and Yahweh. However, McLoughlin observed others, such as Chief Major Lowrey, were skeptical about connections between the Cherokees and the Jews, particularly after “he discovered that anti-Semitism was

almost as pronounced among many white Americans as Indian hating” (McLoughlin 1994, 145). These Cherokees thought associating their own traditions with those of the Jews would likely hinder more than improve relations with the American nationals.

One respondent to The Cherokee Phoenix, identified as W., attempted to clarify the issue in a letter written to Elias Boudinot that was printed in the April 29, 1829 edition: “The Cherokees have only two names of God, one of which, (5 Cherokee letters) U-ne-la-nv-hi, signifies the Creator, and the other (6 Cherokee letters) Ga-lv-la-ti c-hi, he who dwells above” (Cherokee Phoenix 1829). 15 Concerning the name Jehovah, W. related further, “as to the Cherokees, the name Yehowah is now known to some, but only those who learned it by means of Christian missionaries” (Cherokee Phoenix 1829).

The origin of the term yowa likewise remains unclear; according to the editors of The Payne-Butrick Papers, “Yo-wa is said to be the original Cherokee word used to indicate reverence to God, long before the Protestant term was introduced” (Anderson, Brown and Rogers 2010, 340 n. 10). However, the editors cite no specific source for this claim, and it remains unclear whether use of this term predated the collection of Butrick’s papers. The most likely explanation for the inclusion of the name Yihowa in the accounts related to Butrick is that some Cherokees, such as Nutsawi and Corn Tassel, had incorporated the name into a syncretic religious tradition that could answer questions raised by encounters with Christian teachings. This explanation is supported by the fact that like the other songs discussed above the words of the yowa hymn had no distinct meaning, as the editors noted “the words of the

15 _{The Phoenix did not make It clear who authored this letter to Boudinot. However, the author’s use of third}

person pronouns when discussing the Cherokees implies it was most likely written by a White author. In addition, given his association with Boudinot and the Phoenix, it seems likely that the author was Samuel A. Worcester.

Yowah hymn are vocables, sounds with no meaning” (Anderson, Brown and Rogers 2010, 346 n. 91). Because the origin and meaning of the words were no longer remembered when the informants communicated with Butrick, it is possible that the informants contributed their own interpretations—which, for Cherokee-Christian converts like Nutsawi and Corn Tassel, would undoubtedly have been influenced by Christian teachings.

Regardless of the actual origin of the yowa hymn, it is clear from the accounts that singing the hymn was part of Cherokee practice as late as the end of the eighteenth century, and furthermore, it continued to be sung after the memory of the meaning of the words had been forgotten. Again, the hymn’s inclusion in Cherokee ritual and the regulations that govern its performance imply that the act of singing it was more important than the meaning of the words. Furthermore, it is clear that the Cherokee understood that by singing the yowa a desired affect could be achieved. Thus, the performance of the hymn was considered an efficacious ritual.

From the accounts of the Green Corn and Atohvna ceremonies, it is clear that the Cherokee understood these ceremonies to have profound religious significance with regard to their place within the cosmos. However, it should be noted that many outsiders, and perhaps some of the Cherokee themselves, also considered the ceremonies to be social gatherings that strengthened communal and family bonds within the nation. McLoughlin observed that while many conservative Christian missionaries may have viewed the singing and dancing aspects of the ceremonies with distaste, attending and participating in the Green Corn Dance “was seldom a reason for censure or excommunication in the Baptist or Methodist mission church, much to the horror of the Congregationalists or Moravians” (McLoughlin 1994, 213).

This apparent indifference to the Cherokees performance of the Green Corn Dance among some missionaries implies that they perceived is as merely a social event or a generic expression of Thanksgiving. Indeed, within the Euro-American tradition of the Christians, there was a long history of similar social gatherings for celebrating bountiful harvests. Ultimately, even the Congregationalist missionaries of Brainerd made concessions to the Green Corn Dance, as they noted in the account from August 9, 1819 in the Brainerd Journal: “from the commencement of the school many parents have fixed on this season of the year to take their children home to visit…We therefore thought best to have something like a vacation at the time” (Phillips and Phillips 1998, 128). Yet, the missionaries’ indifference ultimately proved to be foreshadowing for what was to come.

Following removal in 1838, according to Mooney, the ceremonies lost much of their religious significance for many of the Cherokees in the East, and in the West, many of the ceremonies were abandoned altogether: “The ball play was neglected and the green-corn dance proscribed, while the heroic tradition of former days became a fading memory or tale to amuse a child” (Mooney 1992, 146). Nonetheless, from the accounts collected concerning these ceremonies and rituals, it is evident that the Cherokees traditionally possessed a rich, religious tradition, in which singing played a significant role as they sought to communicate and connect with the spirits en masse, and with the Great Spirit itself. Furthermore, it is clear from the accounts available that the performance and practice of singing outweighed the verbal meaning of the songs, and it was through that practice that the Cherokee brought themselves into harmony within the cosmos, the spirits within it and the Great Spirit beyond.